Love Under A Southern Sky
by JMCCountryGirl
Summary: Everyone thought their love would not last but Rj Smith and his Girlfriend Gina set out to prove everyone wrong


Gina starred up at the stars one hand resting on her 5 month pregnant stomach, she was still a kid herself at the age of 17. The sound of the driver side door to the Blazer sounded and Gina looked over at her boyfriend and father of her unborn child Rj as he got into the driver seat "I got your sprite honey." he said as he handed it to her before he took his hand in hers and raised it to his lips and kissed it.

Rj was 18 and just as scared of the decision to move Gina away from the town they had grew up in, when her parent's found out she was pregnant they took the news well but they were never fond of Gina dating him. He had made the decision to move her an hour away and show her parent's he could step up to the plate and be a man to their daughter and grandchild. Gina squeezed his hand knowing his thoughts were the same as hers but they would make it.

"We should be there soon honey." Rj told her, his uncle Jimmy had a rental house he was going to let them move into and stay there for $200 a month. The house was not much but it was 2 bedrooms and would be a roof over their heads.

"I know your just as scared as i am." Gina told him as she chewed on her bottom lip as she always did when she was nervous or scared.

"Your right baby i am, you could always read my mind" Rj told her as he steered the blazer onto the road pulling away from the connivance store "I got a job which i start first thing tomorrow morning and i have a house and our things are moved in already. were going to be alright baby."

Gina smiled over at Rj she loved just riding in the vehicle with him as watching as he drove, she watched as he leaned up and turned the radio up as their song came on the radio. Gina closed her eyes and listened as he sang along with Luke Bryan during "Drunk on you" so many nights they had lay in one anther's arms the song playing over and over. "I am going to find a job as soon as i have the baby and can go back to work." Gina told him as the song ended.

"Honey i don't want you worrying about anything alright?" Rj told her "Leave the worrying up to me because it will put you in stress and put stress on the baby."

Rj pulled into the driveway of a 2 bedroom brick home and looked over at his girlfriend he loved so much, their new life together was about to begin and there was no turning back now on his part. he got out of the car and ran around to the passenger side door and opened it for her. Gina wrapped her arms around his neck shutting the door with her foot her lips met his and they kissed under the stars "I love you so much Randy Joe" she said a smile on her face.

"I love you to Gina Marie Belcher." Rj told her, three days from then she would soon share his last name his mother agreeing to pay for them to be married at the court house. Rj lifted Gina into his arms and carried her into the house towards the room which would be the bedroom they shared together.

~*~*~  
Two years had passed since the night Gina and Rj started a new life together they were still living in his uncle's house now joined by a beautiful daughter they had named Brianna Marie Smith. Rj still worked helping a friend of his uncles build houses and Gina was a nurse working the night shift and going to school to get herself certified as a RN. Life was not every girls dream but to Gina it could not get any better as she watched Brianna playing on a blanket not far from her as she set on the front porch steps.

Gina's eyes began to smile as she saw Rj's truck pull into the driveway getting off from work. She watched as he got out of the truck and ran over to where Brianna was playing he smiled down at his daughter who climbed into his lap and kissed his cheek saying the words Daddy Home. The sight made Gina so proud as she watched them he was such a loving husband and father. "How was your day honey?" Rj asked putting his full attention on her.

"Enjoyable." Gina told him as he walked towards her, she stood and he wrapped her in his arms they were just as much in love with one another then as they were when they first met.

"Come on baby i want to take you and Brianna on a drive." Rj told her as he slipped his hand in his and pulled her towards the ford mustang she called hers.

"Baby wouldn't you like to shower first?" Gina asked as he opened the passenger door for her, after 2 years of being married he still did those little things every woman dreams of her man doing.

"No, i want to take my wife and baby girl for a drive." Rj said before he leaned in to kiss her lips before going to get Brianna, locking up the house then putting Brianna in her car seat.

The drive was wonderful with the top down on the mustang and country music blaring through the speakers, Gina could not have asked for a better life than what she was living now til Rj pulled up to a newly built four bedroom home sitting not far from the lake.

"Wouldn't it be amazing to own a place like this?" Gina asked as Rj put the car in park.

"Well baby why don't you ask yourself that question?" Rj smiled then winked at her before holding out his hand inside it were two front door keys.

"How did you..." Gina said with a shocked expression on her face.

"Been paying the boss as much as i could towards this place for the past 5-6 months." Rj told her "I told him i wanted a better home for you and Brianna and he told me that would be our next side project."

"So this is our house?" Gina asked to make sure she stood corrected.

"Still paying for it, but yes baby this is our new home." Rj said as he opened the driver side door "Were moving everything in tomorrow."

Gina felt tears coming to her eyes as she wrapped her arms around her husbands neck, people told her they would never make it past a year of being married. Rj was far from being the one for her in their minds but in hers he was the only one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

Hand in hand Gina and Rj walked into the house with Brianna on his hip, the moment Gina stepped inside the house she felt her breath catch in her throat the house was just as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside. "How did you know exactly the layout I wanted and what I wanted?" Gina asked as they walked from the foyer towards the living room.

"I've heard you talking to my mom about your perfect house before baby." Rj said before he squeezed her hand happy to be living this life with her.

"People said we would never make it together, you were the bad boy and I was the good girl." Gina said as she stopped him in the kitchen "But here we are 2 years later and still in love."

"I always knew you were the one I was going to marry." Rj told her before he leaned down and kissed her lips. His hands slipped down to her back where her tee tank stopped just a little above the top of her jeans.

Gina watched his smile turn into a devilish grin, she winked at him letting him know later that night he would get what he was wanting. Turning away from him she went to step outside into the backyard off from the kitchen she was surprised to find an in ground pool had been installed ready for the summer. Leaning on the railing of the porch she took in the scenery around her, a few yards away she could see the lake and could imagine her little family spending days at the lake or in the privacy of their own pool.

Inside the house Rj was following Brianna from one room to another letting her explore, she had his eyes but Gina's personality. "Dada pwetty" Brianna said giving her opinion on the house.

"Only the best for daddies girls." Rj said lifting her into his arms "You and mommy mean the world to me."

Later that night Gina had just finished tucking Brianna in for the night when she found Rj starring outside the window out into the front yard of the home they would be leaving. She wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and kissed his bare shoulder. "Your worried about something." she said to him.

"Just thinking about how little we had when we first started out and what we have now." Rj told her before he turned to face his beautiful wife.

"You have worked hard to get us where we are today." Gina told him "I am so grateful for you and everything we have."

"I guess I should run to the nearest store and get some more packing tape." Rj told her before he kissed her lips "I won't be gone long honey."

Gina was still awake packing when her cell phone began to ring a few hours after Rj had left, she had been worried and tried calling his phone several times but got no answer "Hello?" her voice was a little shaky when she answered.

"Is this Gina Smith?" came the voice from the other end of the line "I am calling in regards of your husband Randy Smith."

"Is my husband ok?" Gina asked an uneasy feeling settling into her stomach, she was already on her feet running into the nursery to awake Brianna.

"Your husband was in a car accident and is Hospital in the Intensive care unit." at Vanderbilt hospital in Nashville.

Gina grew numb inside as she tried to listen to the officer at the other end of the line, she had to contact her brother him being the closest to her. How could this be happening? She and Rj were supposed to be moving the following day and moving on with a new and better life. Once she ended the phone conversation she quickly dressed Brianna while she was on the phone with her brother. She was too numb to cry and somehow was keeping her calm for the sake of Brianna. When she saw her brother's car pull into the drive she ran outside and got into the car buckling Brianna into the car seat. In the front seat Rj's mother was in tears as Gina's brother held her hand. "Do you know any more than what you told me?" Billy asked from the driver seat.

"I have not called, I have been so busy trying to get Brianna and myself ready." Gina said softly "Now that I have time I am calling to see if they can tell me more."

Pulling her cell phone out she found the number she needed and dialed the Intensive care waiting room, she had called Rj's boss after contacting her brother so he was the one to answer the phone. "Josh this is Gina, can you tell me anything more on Rj's condition?"

"They have him in surgery right now." Josh told her "He was hit head on by a drunk driver, his head hit the window since he had not put his seat belt on."

"Is in in a coma?" Gina wanted to know as tears gathered in her eyes for the first time since she heard about the accident.

"Yeah sweetie he is." Josh answered her question "They are performing surgery on his nose and placing a _Intracranial pressure_ monitor in his head and that will monitor the pressure on his brain."

"Were trying to get there as fast as we can." Gina said as she swallowed back her tears before she ended the phone call.

The ride to the hospital was silent with Brianna sleeping and the adults not really believing this was happening. Gina was the first out of the car and she took off in search of the ICU waiting room where she found Josh pacing the floor back and forth. Josh saw her and took her in his arms where she finally broke down her knee's almost buckling beneath her. "They called about 10 minutes ago and said he was out of surgery and recovery, they have moved him into his ICU room." Josh told her

"Can I speak to the doctor?" Gina asked him.

"Nurse behind the desk said she would inform the doctor when you got here." Josh told her "Sit down and I will let her know."

Gina was sitting down when Billy and Barbara came into the room with Brianna, families starred at them wondering what the situation was. When the doors to the room opened and Gina saw the doctor she was on her feet "How is my husband?" she asked for the second time that day.

"He is out of surgery and now in a room in intensive care, his head hit the windshield so there is possible damage to the front of his brain, he has some broken ribs and both legs were broken." the doctor told her "You may go to his room now and see him, he is in a coma so I want you to be aware of that."

"Can he hear what we say to him?" Gina wanted to know.

"We never want to promise they can hear you but it has been said they can." the doctor told her "Intensive care is on the third floor just take the elevators right outside the door."

"Barbara I want you to come with me please." Gina said as she took a deep breath preparing herself for what she was about to see.

"I will be happy to take Brianna home to my wife and she can stay as long as she needs." Josh told Gina.

"Thank you, I would appreciate that so much." Gina smiled towards him before she and Barbara left the room heading towards the elevators.

Rj was hooked to machines as they entered the room he looked as if he were only sleeping, she saw the bolt coming from his head that would monitor the pressure on his brain. Gina stepped closer and she kissed the cut on his forehead that now had stitches "Hey baby I am here and I am not leaving your side." she told him slipping her hand inside his free hand.

"Hard to believe this has happened." Barbara whispered as she ran her finger along her son's face "I've always told him to wear his seat belt but he never listened to me."

"He had gotten really good about wearing it, I guess when he was hit he had not had the time to put the seat belt on."

"He is going to come out of this." Barbara forced herself to say "Everything is up to the lord now."

"We were going to move into the new house tomorrow." Gina sighed shaking her head her eyes focused on her husband.

"Things will be moved in and ready for you two when he is able to come home." Barbara told her "I talked to him on the phone yesterday when he left work and he was telling me everything, you mean the world to him and you have changed him for the better."

"I need to make a phone call to the police department and see if someone saw the accident happen and if they got the drunk drivers license plate number." Gina said "I love you Rj and I don't want you to forget that, don't give up on me baby Brianna and I need you in our life."

Gina kissed his forehead then she left the room before breaking down in the hallway, Barbara took her daughter-n-law in her arms and the two women cried together not sure if the most important person in their life would come back from this or not.

10 weeks passed and Rj still remained in intensive care under heavy sedation, the bolt from his head was expected to be removed that day then the process of weaning him off the sedation would begin. "Rj baby if you can hear me honey I want you to squeeze my hand." Gina said during visiting hours when he squeezed her hand she smiled tears coming to her eyes.

"That is my baby, I love you so much honey and it won't be long til you will be coming home." Gina said before she kissed his hand which he thought deserved another squeeze on the hand.

"Yesterday he was winking at Billy." Barbara laughed "He is improving every day."

"The lord was watching over him that night." Gina assured Barbara.

Rj would soon be moved from the intensive care unit and to a rehabilitation hospital where he would start the learning process of speaking, feeding himself, and soon walking when they thought he was ready. Everything had been moved into the new house and it was set up for when Rj was able to come home.

Gina sighed as she stood to her feet, she kissed Rj on the head as she always did before she left the room. Brianna was in the waiting room when Gina came downstairs she took her baby girl in her arms and kissed her soft cheek. "Mommy has missed her baby."

"Miss Mommy" Brianna said before hugging Gina around the neck "Wanna see dada"

"Honey mommy has explained this before, you can't see daddy right now but it won't be long baby I promise." Gina said as she set down in a nearby chair "I heard from the detective today." she said to Barbara who was sitting beside her.

"Please tell me they caught him and he is behind bars." Barbara pleaded.

"Yeah they have him behind bars, when things settle down then I will see what I have to do about getting him or his family to pay for the hospital bills." Gina said.

"Rj had insurance but it isn't going to cover everything." Barbara agreed.

"I can't wait til he leaves here and goes to the rehabilitation." Gina laid her head back against the chair.

"It is going to be awhile before your life goes back to normal." Barbara told her "But your brother and I are moving close by and going to help out as much as we can."

"When was this decided?" Gina wanted to know

"We have been thinking about it for a year now but even more now since the accident." Barbara told her.

"It would be so much help for me, I can continue nursing school and you stay with Rj during the day and on nights I work which I am going to need to cut down." Gina said chewing on her bottom lip

"Were going to be there for you however you need us." Barbara told her.

"I don't know what I would do without you two." Gina said as tears came to her eyes.

Barbara reached over and placed her hand on Gina's, the two girls had grown really close when her brother married and now she was also Gina's mother-n-law. The situation sounded weird but Gina and her brother Billy were not blood related. When the word got out she and Rj were into one another people made comments but those comments didn't seem to bother them.

Gina closed her eyes and finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep something she had not been able to do since the accident happened. Nobody bothered her and let her get the sleep they all knew she needed.


End file.
